Sunday, October 27, 2013

In verse 4, He carried our sorrows and griefs. In verse 5, He bore the punishment due for our sins. Now in verse 6, He carries our very sin itself, as if He Himself had been the sinner. In the astounding reality of substitutionary atonement, Christ actually and literally took our place on the cross. He truly suffered the just and fierce wrath of God in our stead.The Image of the Sinner: a Sheep"sheep" = Heb. צאןtso'n - small cattle, sheep, sheep and goats, flockSheep are ignorant and don't know what's good for them. They are irrational and misguided creatures. They wander about in any direction, aimless, easily endangered and vulnerable. Even in our seemingly "innocent" meanderings and missteps, we are SINNING AGAINST GOD.The Trajectory of Sin: Straying"gone astray" = Heb. תעהta`ah - to err, wander, go astray, staggerFor a stray sheep, the world is filled with hazards and dangers. That sheep is a defenseless and helpless thing with no means of protecting itself. The only hope for a lost sheep is that the shepherd pursues him and finds him before calamity strikes.Psalm 119:176 "I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments."The Nature of Sin: Turning Away"turned" = Heb. פנהpanah - to turnSin is the opposite of repentance. It is turning from God. Repentance is turning to Him. What could be more insulting than to turn away the face, eyes, and ears from the one who is addressing us? What could be more dishonoring than to walk away in a different direction when we have been rightly commanded by legitimate authority? Perhaps a direct attack or assault would be considered more antagonistic; however, we turn away when we know we cannot win in a straightforward battle, and when we realize that we are facing One much greater in strength and we simply do not want to comply.On the other hand, we turn to those we know are ready to help us. We turn to the authority we acknowledge and accept. We turn to the master we find to be good and wise and excellent.It is His kindness that leads us to repentance.Which way are you turning?

The Essence of Sin: Self-Centeredness"his own way" = Heb. דרךderek - way, road, distance, journey, mannerThe straying sheep follows his own path. He doesn't trust the Shepherd and won't walk in His paths. In going his own way, the sinner ironically goes down the well-worn path taken by every other sinner since Adam and Eve. It is "his own way" as opposed to God's way, yet it is the same old way of all sinful humanity. Sin is oddly unoriginal.

The Corrupting Nature of Sin: Iniquity"Iniquity" = Heb. עון`avon - perversenessAs sinners, we are deeply and inherently corrupted. This is why we must be born again; it is why we must be disciplined by the rod of our Father-Shepherd, and die to self, and later shed this corrupt flesh to be clothed with a new body. Our very planet and universe have been corrupted through sin, and they must be replaced with a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness shall dwell. Sinners can be redeemed from their perversity or they can remain corrupt and perish with all that is corrupt. This is where "our own way" leads us. But God's way is to save the straying sheep whose pitiful bleats are born of faith.

The Extent of Sin: "All We" and "Every One"We have strayed as a group, and we have strayed individually. All Israel strayed. All mankind strayed. Every person has strayed. You have strayed and I have strayed. Sin is a universal trait of mankind, a very "common" thing.

The Saving Power of Substitution: Our Iniquity was Laid on Him "Laid on Him" = Heb. פגעpaga` - to encounter, meet, reachChrist bore our iniquities. The sinless Savior carried sin. The animals that were sacrified in the Levitical sin offerings were symbolic substitutes who painted the picture of Christ carrying away the sins of the people. They typified our Lord, who would bear all the iniquity that ever was.

The verse highlights the fact that Christ shared our human nature. He and we, together, are compared to "sheep." We strayed like sheep, while he was sacrificed as a lamb in our place. He died like a sheep for those who are like sheep. Although the animal sacrifices under the Old Covenant could never suffice as actual substitutes for humans, and were merely symbolic, Christ became the perfect and realman who was given to die in the place of sinful man. He became the spotless lamb who died in the place of straying sheep.Thanks be to God, we straying and perverse fools can be brought to repentance and carried home!

Saturday, October 05, 2013

I don't comment much on politics here, and that is by design. However, America's political system is so out of order and beyond stupid that I am now compelled to speak out. Regular programming will resume following this short announcement (unless the ongoing political situation prompts me to speak out again).

A MODEST PROPOSAL FOR FIXING AMERICA

1. Amend the Constitution to create five new political parties and require a minimum of five fully viable parties at all times. (The most liberal of these parties should be the "Blue Dogs").

2. Require all political candidates to have proven leadership experience in a role that brings direct benefit to society, having demonstrated a firm commitment to the Constitution, moral responsibility and accountability, and fiscal responsibility and accountability. Require a minimum percentage of politicians to be normal, non-wealthy Americans. Allow only a small percentage of politicians to be lawyers and attorneys.

3. Immediately hold referendum elections under the five party system for all major political offices.

4. Term limits. Ten years in politics and then you're done.

5. Remove all Democrats and Republicans from office, disband the two parties and make it illegal for them to ever form again. Make the terms "Democrat" and "Republican" more odious than the worst profanity.

6. Make it illegal for anyone who has ever held an official role in either of these parties to ever be involved in politics in any sense. (We might consider generously allowing them to remain in America on the condition that they donate all of their wealth to charity, get regular jobs, and act like normal citizens going forward).

About the THEOparadox Team

Derek Ashton,Founder:I know enough about myself to be completely amazed that God loves me. His grace toward me has been abundant and overwhelming. I thank Him that I've been married to my beautiful bride since 1996. I have the privilege of raising two wonderful children who are gifts from God. (Read my testimony here).

Emeritus Team Members:Tony Hayling:Learn more about Tony at his site, Agonizomai.

THEOparadox MISSION Statement:

~To honor God by upholding the authority, inerrancy and sufficiency of His Word, the Bible.~To help students of the Word to interpret Biblical paradoxes in a way that faithfully reflects God's heart.~To ignite a devotional flame that will help believers to warm up their theology and burn up their pride.~To encourage Christian faith by resolving or explaining apparent contradictions in the Scriptures.~To explore the nature and extent of paradoxes in historically orthodox, Reformed, Biblical theology.

~To provide Biblical resources for those who desire to know God and His Word better.

~To glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, the Friend of sinners and the Savior of the lost.

Feature Series

Theology Meets Geometry

Rules

Feel free to respond to anything written in the posts, or to the comments left by others.

Please be charitable. If you disagree, do so with grace. Keep your words positive, focused, and on-topic. We don't expect everyone to agree, but we do expect everyone to treat everyone else with respect and grace, speaking the truth in love.

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Followers

"Heresy is born whenever the Church fails to pray a tension."

"Hyper-Calvinism and Arminianism both result from the same problem: A tension-deficient disorder."

"Human beings are incredibly good over-compensators."

What is a PARADOX?

A tenet or proposition contrary to received opinion, or seemingly absurd, yet true in fact.

Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828 Edition

"... it is synonymous with apparent contradiction. A 'paradox' thus amounts to a set of claims which taken in conjunction appear to be logically inconsistent. Note that according to this definition, paradoxicality does not entail logical inconsistency per se, but merely the appearance of logical inconsistency."

James Anderson, Paradox in Christian Theology

Wise Words ...

"The juxtaposition of words and ideas that don't usually go together make the real point stand out for us more clearly. And some truths in the Christian life are best expressed as oxymorons - paradoxical language."

~Phil Johnson

Wise Words . . .

"By advocating paradox I don't want to give the impression that I'm giving a carte blanche to not think philosophically, to not think deeply, about these doctrines. Quite the opposite. . . . My position is that with each of these doctrines we reflect on them as hard as we can, we penetrate them as best we can based on the Scriptural data that we do have, but we also recognize that there are going to be limits, and that those limits are actually a positive thing and not a reflection of some inherent problem in the doctrines or in the process of theological reflection. . . . I think we can make progress, we can make

considerable progress, in understanding these doctrines and resolving some of the . . . initial difficulties that we have with them, but at the same time recognizing that we're always only going to get so far and when we bump up against the limits of our capacity to formulate them in certain ways or to resolve certain difficulties in them, we

shouldn't be too concerned about that. We certainly shouldn't say, 'Okay, we need to admit that Christians are ultimately irrationalists.' No. We don't need to say that at all. . . . It's a Biblically constrained rationality. It's a middle way between rationalism, of which I think [Gordon H.] Clark was a representative, and irrationalism, of which, to take an example I think the Neo-Orthodox - Karl Barth - would be an example, where you're saying that there are actual contradictions in there. So I think it's navigating a Biblical middle way between these two extremes: having too high a view of the human intellect, and perhaps too low a view of the intellect, of our ability to know the things

of God."

~Dr. James Anderson

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The Gospel

God lovingly sacrificed His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, for a depraved and law-breaking humanity's only way to be saved from His just wrath, and through His death and resurrection graciously sanctified and secured forever all those who believe on Him - for their ultimate good and His eternal glory.

The following quotation was found in a recent post on a popular Arminian blog . It is by James Arminius, the founder of Arminianism, and pur...

Theological Paradoxes

Below I have listed some of the classic theological paradoxes (and a few interesting ironies, too) . . .

~The Trinity- God is One being revealed in three distinct persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)~God is transcendent(separate from His creation) yet immanent(in His creation)~Omnipresence- God is always present everywhere, yet He sometimes speaks of Himself as "present" in a special way~The Incarnation- God became a man~The Virgin Birth - A Jewish virgin gave birth to the Son of God~The Two Natures of Christ - Jesus is fully (100%) God and fully (100%) man

~The Atonement is sufficient to save every person, but efficient only for those who believe~God is completely sovereign (in control of everything, everywhere, all the time) yet He is not the author of sin and he uses human choice to accomplish His purposes~Inspiration of Scripture - The Bible was written by sinful human beings yet it is the inerrant and flawless Word of God~Divine Revelation - Sinful man cannot comprehend God, yet God reveals Himself to sinful man~Sanctification- Christians are sinners by nature, but saints by grace~Suffering- God brings His joy and comfort into our lives through our experiences of pain, disappointment and suffering

There are many others. Paradox is everywhere when we attempt to understand God's ways in a genuinely Biblical way.

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The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord

Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,Born of the virgin Mary,Suffered under Pontius Pilate,Was Crucified, dead and buried

He descended into Hades;The third day He rose again from the dead;He ascended into heaven,and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty

From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit,The holy catholic (i.e., universal) Church,The communion of saints;the forgiveness of sins;the resurrection of the body;and the life everlasting. Amen